Minor moves in fx markets

Asian Mid-session Update: Quiet session as Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul markets closed for holiday; Minor moves in fx markets

Economic Data

- (CN) CHINA APR MANUFACTURING PMI: 50.1 V 50.0E

- (CN) CHINA APR NON-MANUFACTURING PMI: 53.4 V 53.7 PRIOR

- (JP) JAPAN MAR REAL CASH EARNINGS Y/Y: -2.6% V -2.3% PRIOR; LABOR CASH EARNINGS Y/Y: 0.1% V 0.4%E

- (JP) JAPAN APR TOKYO CPI Y/Y: 0.7% V 0.7%E; CPI EX FRESH FOOD Y/Y: 0.4% V 0.5%E; CPI EX FOOD, ENERGY Y/Y: 0.0% V 0.2%E

- (JP) JAPAN MAR NATIONAL CPI Y/Y: 2.3% V 2.2%E; CPI EX FRESH FOOD Y/Y: 2.2% V 2.0%E; CPI EX FOOD, ENERGY Y/Y: 2.1% V 2.0%E

- (JP) JAPAN MAR JOBLESS RATE: 3.4% V 3.5%E (matches lowest reading since Aug 1997)

- (JP) JAPAN MAR OVERALL HOUSEHOLD SPENDING Y/Y: -10.6% V -11.8%E; 12TH MONTH OF DECLINE

- (JP) JAPAN APR FINAL MARKIT/JMMA MANUFACTURING PMI: 49.9 V 49.7 PRELIM

- (KR) SOUTH KOREA APR CPI M/M: 0.1% V 0.1%E; Y/Y: 0.4% V 0.4%E; CPI CORE Y/Y: 2.0% V 2.0%E

- (KR) SOUTH KOREA APR TRADE BALANCE: $8.5B V $7.2BE

- (AU) AUSTRALIA Q1 PPI Q/Q: 0.5% V 0.1% PRIOR; Y/Y: 0.7% V 1.1% PRIOR

- (AU) AUSTRALIA APR AIG PERFORMANCE OF MANUFACTURING INDEX: 48.0 V 46.3 PRIOR (5th consecutive contraction)

- (AU) AUSTRALIA APR RPDATA/RISMARK HOUSE PRICE INDEX M/M: 0.8% V 1.4% PRIOR

- (NZ) NEW ZEALAND APR QV HOUSE PRICES: 8.3% V 7.7% PRIOR

Index Snapshot (as of 02:30 GMT)

- Nikkei225 -0.3%, S&P/ASX +0.3%, Kospi closed, Shanghai Composite closed, Hang Seng closed, Jun S&P500 +0.2% at 2,082

Commodities/Fixed Income

- Jun gold flat at $1,182/oz, Jun crude oil +0.1% at $59.69/brl, May copper +0.1% at $2.89/lb

- (US) Weekly Fed Balance Sheet Total Assets for week ending Apr 30th: $4.53T v $4.49T prior; Reserve Bank Credit: $4.44T v $4.45T prior; M1: -$5.5B v -$61.5B prior; M2: -$1.9B v -$40.5B prior

- (JP) Japan investors bought net ¥185B in foreign bonds v bought ¥434B in prior week; Foreign investors bought net ¥821B in Japan stocks v bought ¥599B in prior week

- (JP) BOJ offers to buy ¥70B in JGBs with maturity less than 1-yr, ¥375B in 1-3yr JGBs and ¥375B in 3-5yr JGBs

- (AU) Australia MoF (AOFM) sells A$700M in 3.25% bonds due 2018; Avg yield: 1.9377%; Bid-to-cover: 4.09x

Market Focal Points/FX

- Relatively quiet session in Asia today, as markets in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, and South Korea are closed for holiday. US Dollar remained weak against major currencies. EUR/USD traded above 1.12 levels, while USD/JPY not much changed around 119.60 levels. New Zealand Finance English today said RBNZ may be changing view on rates as inflation slows. This is in line with RBNZ's statement last night, saying RBNZ would cut interest rate on weaker demand, and lower inflation pressure. NZD/USD traded lower by about 25pips to as low as 0.7570 levels after those comments.

- China posted official PMI data for Apr. Manufacturing PMI was at 50.1, slightly beat consensus of 50.0, while Services PMI at 53.4, slowed from 53.7 in prior month. AUD/USD little changed after those data. China Stats Bureau said China manufacturing still faces downward pressure, and non-manufacturing growth slows. AUD/USD little changed after China data.

Equities

US equities/ADRs:

- SYT: Reportedly gets takeover approach from Monsanto; Syngenta said to have concerns about potential antitrust barriers to a deal - press; +13.7% afterhours

- ELLI: Reports Q1 $0.33 v $0.20e, R$54.2M v $46.6Me; +10.0% afterhours

- ATHN: Reports Q1 $0.24 (adj) v $0.13e, R$206.4M v $205Me; +6.1% afterhours

- EXPE: Reports Q1 -$0.03 v +$0.07e, R$1.37B v $1.35Be; +5.3% afterhours

- GILD: Reports Q1 $2.94 v $2.31e, R$7.59B v $6.76Be; +2.6% afterhours

- BYD: Reports Q1 $0.13 v $0.10e, R$550.6M v $549Me; +1.4% afterhours

- FLR: Reports Q1 $0.96 v $0.98e, R$4.55B v $5.31Be; +0.8% afterhours

- AIG: Reports Q1 $1.22 v $1.18e; +0.6% afterhours

- ISIS: Earns $10M milestone payment from BIIB; +0.5% afterhours

- AKS: Announces Price increase for carbon steel products; flat afterhours

- WU: Reports Q1 $0.39 v $0.38e, R$1.32B v $1.30Be; -0.4% afterhours

- V: Reports Q2 $0.63 v $0.62e, R$3.41B v $3.33Be; -1.6% afterhours

- SPWR: Reports Q1 $0.13 v $0.09e, R$430.6M v $531Me; -2.1% afterhours

- DWA: Reports Q1 -$0.25 (adj) v -$0.43e, R$166M v $174Me; -2.2% afterhours

- FSLR: Reports Q1 -$0.62 (GAAP) v -$0.18e, R$469M v $636Me; Caterpillar Expands Renewable Power Generation Offerings in Conjunction with First Solar; -3.8% afterhours

- FLS: Reports Q1 $0.58 v $0.70e, R$1.01B v $1.05Be; To cut workforce by 5%; -7.0% afterhours

- CTCT: Reports Q1 $0.22 v $0.19e, R$90.4M v $91.1Me; -9.9% afterhours

- LNKD: Reports Q1 $0.57 v $0.57e, R$638M v $638Me; -21.0% afterhours

- TSLA: Launches batteries for homes, businesses and utilities

Notable movers by sector:

- Consumer Discretionary: Japan Airlines 9201.JP -2.1% (FY14/15 results); Virgin Australia VAH.AU -0.5% (Q3 results)

- Materials: St Barbara SBM.AU +15.2% (sells asset)

- Energy: Tohoku Electric 9506.JP -1.6% (FY14/15 results)

- Technology: Seiko Epson 6724.JP +1.6% (FY14/15 results); Fujitsu 6702.JP -18.2% (FY14/15 results)